Police pursuit of stolen car ends in crash, twice

Wednesday

Apr 17, 2013 at 4:00 AM

A man in a reported stolen car crashed the vehicle twice before being apprehended by authorities Monday night.

by Abigail Wilson Dodge City Daily Globe

A man in a reported stolen car crashed the vehicle twice before being apprehended by authorities Monday night. The pursuit began just before midnight, according to Chief of Police Craig Mellecker.
The driver of the stolen car, Murdock Jacob Dechant, 18, of Dodge City, was arrested and charged with two counts of theft, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, driving without a license, and various traffic offenses, according to records from the Ford County Sheriff's Office.
Mellecker said the officers were dispatched to a residence on 9th Avenue to take a report for a stolen motor vehicle. Shortly there after, the vehicle was spotted by police in the 1300 block of Avenue B. An officer from the Dodge City Police Department attempted to pull Dechant over but he failed to stop. The pursuit continued to the intersection of Comanche St. and Central Avenue where the vehicle struck a fire hydrant and a utility pole at 11:45 p.m.
Due to Dechant's reckless driving and behavior, Mellecker said the decision was made to terminate the pursuit on the part of the police department.
Four minutes later, at 11:49 p.m. a deputy from the Ford County Sheriff's Department initiated a second pursuit of the vehicle which ended in a single-vehicle crash at the intersection of 6th Avenue and Mulberry Street.
Mellecker said Dechant fled the scene on foot and was finally apprehended two blocks away on 4th Avenue.
The pursuit ended at 11:59 p.m.
The damage to a utility pole in first crash left Gene's Heartland Foods without electricity for a few early morning hours, according to a representative from the store. The pole was replaced yesterday.
Mellecker said no one was injured during the incident.